Isaías 51

1"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness ¶ and who seek the LORD: ¶ Look to the rock from which you were cut ¶ and to the quarry from which you were hewn;

2look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. ¶ When I called him he was only one man, ¶ and I blessed him and made him many.

3The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; ¶ he will make her deserts like Eden, ¶ her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. ¶ Joy and gladness will be found in her, ¶ thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

4"Listen to me, my people; ¶ hear me, my nation: ¶ Instruction will go out from me; ¶ my justice will become a light to the nations.

5My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, ¶ and my arm will bring justice to the nations. ¶ The islands will look to me ¶ and wait in hope for my arm.

6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; ¶ the heavens will vanish like smoke, ¶ the earth will wear out like a garment ¶ and its inhabitants die like flies. ¶ But my salvation will last forever, ¶ my righteousness will never fail.

7"Hear me, you who know what is right, ¶ you people who have taken my instruction to heart: ¶ Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals ¶ or be terrified by their insults.

8For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. ¶ But my righteousness will last forever, ¶ my salvation through all generations."

9Awake, awake, arm of the LORD, ¶ clothe yourself with strength! ¶ Awake, as in days gone by, ¶ as in generations of old. ¶ Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces, ¶ who pierced that monster through?

10Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, ¶ who made a road in the depths of the sea ¶ so that the redeemed might cross over?

11Those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; ¶ everlasting joy will crown their heads. ¶ Gladness and joy will overtake them, ¶ and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

12"I, even I, am he who comforts you. ¶ Who are you that you fear mere mortals, ¶ human beings who are but grass,

13that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretches out the heavens ¶ and who lays the foundations of the earth, ¶ that you live in constant terror every day ¶ because of the wrath of the oppressor, ¶ who is bent on destruction? ¶ For where is the wrath of the oppressor?

14The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; ¶ they will not die in their dungeon, ¶ nor will they lack bread.

15For I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar — ¶ the LORD Almighty is his name.

16I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand — ¶ I who set the heavens in place, ¶ who laid the foundations of the earth, ¶ and who say to Zion, 'You are my people.'"

17Awake, awake! ¶ Rise up, Jerusalem, ¶ you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD ¶ the cup of his wrath, ¶ you who have drained to its dregs ¶ the goblet that makes people stagger.

18Among all the children she bore there was none to guide her; ¶ among all the children she reared ¶ there was none to take her by the hand.

19These double calamities have come upon you — who can comfort you? — ¶ ruin and destruction, famine and sword — ¶ who can [^1] console you?

20Your children have fainted; they lie at every street corner, ¶ like antelope caught in a net. ¶ They are filled with the wrath of the LORD, ¶ with the rebuke of your God.

21Therefore hear this, you afflicted one, ¶ made drunk, but not with wine.

22This is what your Sovereign LORD says, your God, who defends his people: ¶ "See, I have taken out of your hand ¶ the cup that made you stagger; ¶ from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, ¶ you will never drink again.

23I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, ¶ 'Fall prostrate that we may walk on you.' ¶ And you made your back like the ground, ¶ like a street to be walked on."